Dozens dead in Yemen clashes

At least 26 people are dead and hundreds more injured when security forces in Yemen fired live rounds into crowds of protesters.

SANAA, YEMEN (Catholic Online) - More deaths are expected because many patients in the hospital are in critical condition and are not expected to survive. Current claims say that 96 victims are in critical condition. 

The mass demonstration took place as tens of thousands of protesters gathered outside Sanaa University to call for the removal of the current regime. The epicenter of the protests was Change Square. Thousands of people have been staging a sit-in for as long as seven months calling for the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Roads leading to the square have been closed by security forces. 

Yemeni President Saleh has been in a Saudi Arabian hospital since June, recovering from an attack on his palace. He has promised to return o Yemen to finish his term. 

Witnesses of the massacre claim they saw .50 caliber machine guns deployed against the protesters. Other Central Security Forces men threw tear gas into the crowd in an effort to disperse the crowds. Water cannons also appear to have been used. 

Protesters were also observed fighting back in some places throwing bottles and rocks. 
The Yemeni state-run news agency reported that protesters were largely members of militia groups and that they staged an illegal protest. Government officials claim protesters threw Molotov cocktails at a power station and burning power generators. They also claim that protesters attacked anti-riot police. 

The government says factions that defected from the government last March, specifically the "Muslim Brotherhood" and the "First Armored Division," are inciting much of the violence. An interior ministry official told reporters, "The opposition forces are using these youth for their own benefits."

Civil conflict has been ongoing in Yemen as part of the larger "Arab Spring" movements that have toppled governments across the Middle East.

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